The elevator hummed as it sped up to the 15th floor. Tavena adjusted the collar of her shirt, the new implant in her neck dug uncomfortably against her skin. Done that morning by Biotechin at their clinic, this implant was part of a secret collaboration between her corporation, Karsova Shipyards and Biotechin to gain some insight into AsterCorp’s next move. Both corporations gained a lot piggy backing off AsterCorp and their space elevator project but now that the elevator was nearing completion, they had to be ready to capitalize on AsterCorp next move. Rumor was that AsterCorps had already negotiated and planned the second elevator site and Tavena had to find out where it was. This information would be incredibly valuable to any corporation as knowing the location of the next elevator would give them a headstart in claiming territory and establishing early contracts with AsterCorp.
While Tavena cared little for what the higher ups wanted with this information, if she completed this task successfully, there had been hints to a potential promotion. Her official reason for the meeting was to meet with AsterCorps executives at their suites to discuss the handling of the orbital launch pad after the elevator’s completion. With AsterCorps dismantling much of its resources here in preparation to shift to the next site, Karsova had offered to take over the aging rocket launch site as well as other subsystems that AsterCorps deemed unnecessary to maintain.
What her actual task was to use her new implant to ping and scrub the wireless networks in the AsterCorps executive offices for potential login and backdoor information. If possible she was to plug in directly to their local network and open a door for Karsova cyber teams. Anxiety gripped her stomach and her fingers tingled with anticipation. She never felt comfortable performing espionage despite the fact that she’d already done this job several times with the other corporations. Honesty never got anyone far in the business world, but Tavena at least tried to be upfront with everything, even threats. This underhanded way of obtaining corporate interests felt cowardly to her, not to mention she was being used as just a tool of Karsova herself. If she were to be caught, she could be tortured for information and killed and Karsova wouldn’t bat an eye. Espionage agents were caught and killed so often in today’s world that legal cases were barely worth the effort. Although Karsova stocks would surely plummet as AsterCorps would sever all ties, a big loss to all the shareholders of course.
She did a quick check on her AR display, her implant had been running the minute she stepped into AsterCorps’ wireless network but so far their encryption was airtight. This did not bode well for her, she’d have to plug in directly and hoped no one saw her. If they did, a concealed pistol was ready in her handbag, it’s small carbon fiber frame and concealed pocket meant it was undetectable by security scans but only carried a few shots. She’d been told to save the last one for herself.
At this thought her stomach twinged again. This was an incredible risk she was taking for a promotion, and not even a guaranteed one at that. In fact, this was the third time she’d been promised a potential career move and so far, none had paid off. But with AsterCorps being such a large player in the business, she’d hope this success would propel her to the next rung on the ladder, if she succeeded that is. The elevator slowed the a stop, then with a small ding the doors opened to a woman waiting for the elevator. Tavena recognized her as Judy Hewson, head of the humanitarian organization, Yazda International. The two exchanged a brief headnod of recognition but did not say anything, Yazda had been nonstop grilling all the corporations in Manta about workers rights and unsurprisingly, they were quite unpopular. The two women have had only the briefest talks but Karsova had shut down Yazda’s requests immediately and refused any further discussions.
Tavena walked past Judy and into a large open lounge, with floor to ceiling windows that gave a breathtaking view of the area surrounding the space elevator. The ocean was a dazzling blue, at least from this distance, and the surrounding mountains were still covered in green. The city itself though was a mess of gray blocks and plumes of white smoke from the various manufacturing plants. An assistant told Tavena that the director would be in shortly and left the room. Taking advantage of this, Tavena quickly walked over to a nearby computer, pulling a small connection hub from her neck implant and plugging it in. Her AR display indicating that it was syncing to the networks security protocols.
She kept looking over her shoulder, she hadn’t seen any cameras in this room but she felt something was off, a strange feeling tingled along the back of her neck. She looked back at the computer screen, the program seemed to be running without any issue and soon her AR display pinged that it was complete and that she was integrated with AsterCorp's network. A second later, she heard footsteps approaching the room she quickly retracted the connection cable and hit the power button on the computer before stepping away just as the door opened and the assistant returned with a tray of drinks.
Heart hammering and sweat creeping into her pits, she did her best to smile and sit down, the hard part was done now all she had to do was get through the meeting without drawing suspicion. But all of a sudden, her AR display pinged and she froze, her hand tightening on the glass of lemon water halfway to her mouth, the ice rattling against the glass. A message had floated into her vision.
The elevator hummed as it sped up to the 15th floor. Tavena adjusted the collar of her shirt, the new implant in her neck dug uncomfortably against her skin. Done that morning by Biotechin at their clinic, this implant was part of a secret collaboration between her corporation, Karsova Shipyards and Biotechin to gain some insight into AsterCorp’s next move. Both corporations gained a lot piggy backing off AsterCorp and their space elevator project but now that the elevator was nearing completion, they had to be ready to capitalize on AsterCorp next move. Rumor was that AsterCorps had already negotiated and planned the second elevator site and Tavena had to find out where it was. This information would be incredibly valuable to any corporation as knowing the location of the next elevator would give them a headstart in claiming territory and establishing early contracts with AsterCorp.
While Tavena cared little for what the higher ups wanted with this information, if she completed this task successfully, there had been hints to a potential promotion. Her official reason for the meeting was to meet with AsterCorps executives at their suites to discuss the handling of the orbital launch pad after the elevator’s completion. With AsterCorps dismantling much of its resources here in preparation to shift to the next site, Karsova had offered to take over the aging rocket launch site as well as other subsystems that AsterCorps deemed unnecessary to maintain.
What her actual task was to use her new implant to ping and scrub the wireless networks in the AsterCorps executive offices for potential login and backdoor information. If possible she was to plug in directly to their local network and open a door for Karsova cyber teams. Anxiety gripped her stomach and her fingers tingled with anticipation. She never felt comfortable performing espionage despite the fact that she’d already done this job several times with the other corporations. Honesty never got anyone far in the business world, but Tavena at least tried to be upfront with everything, even threats. This underhanded way of obtaining corporate interests felt cowardly to her, not to mention she was being used as just a tool of Karsova herself. If she were to be caught, she could be tortured for information and killed and Karsova wouldn’t bat an eye. Espionage agents were caught and killed so often in today’s world that legal cases were barely worth the effort. Although Karsova stocks would surely plummet as AsterCorps would sever all ties, a big loss to all the shareholders of course.
She did a quick check on her AR display, her implant had been running the minute she stepped into AsterCorps’ wireless network but so far their encryption was airtight. This did not bode well for her, she’d have to plug in directly and hoped no one saw her. If they did, a concealed pistol was ready in her handbag, it’s small carbon fiber frame and concealed pocket meant it was undetectable by security scans but only carried a few shots. She’d been told to save the last one for herself.
At this thought her stomach twinged again. This was an incredible risk she was taking for a promotion, and not even a guaranteed one at that. In fact, this was the third time she’d been promised a potential career move and so far, none had paid off. But with AsterCorps being such a large player in the business, she’d hope this success would propel her to the next rung on the ladder, if she succeeded that is.
The elevator slowed the a stop, then with a small ding the doors opened to a woman waiting for the elevator. Tavena recognized her as Judy Hewson, head of the humanitarian organization, Yazda International. The two exchanged a brief headnod of recognition but did not say anything, Yazda had been nonstop grilling all the corporations in Manta about workers rights and unsurprisingly, they were quite unpopular. The two women have had only the briefest talks but Karsova had shut down Yazda’s requests immediately and refused any further discussions.
Tavena walked past Judy and into a large open lounge, with floor to ceiling windows that gave a breathtaking view of the area surrounding the space elevator. The ocean was a dazzling blue, at least from this distance, and the surrounding mountains were still covered in green. The city itself though was a mess of gray blocks and plumes of white smoke from the various manufacturing plants. An assistant told Tavena that the director would be in shortly and left the room. Taking advantage of this, Tavena quickly walked over to a nearby computer, pulling a small connection hub from her neck implant and plugging it in. Her AR display indicating that it was syncing to the networks security protocols.
She kept looking over her shoulder, she hadn’t seen any cameras in this room but she felt something was off, a strange feeling tingled along the back of her neck. She looked back at the computer screen, the program seemed to be running without any issue and soon her AR display pinged that it was complete and that she was integrated with AsterCorp's network. A second later, she heard footsteps approaching the room she quickly retracted the connection cable and hit the power button on the computer before stepping away just as the door opened and the assistant returned with a tray of drinks.
Heart hammering and sweat creeping into her pits, she did her best to smile and sit down, the hard part was done now all she had to do was get through the meeting without drawing suspicion. But all of a sudden, her AR display pinged and she froze, her hand tightening on the glass of lemon water halfway to her mouth, the ice rattling against the glass. A message had floated into her vision.
‘Who are you? You’re not supposed to be in here.’